Hold down attachment for a skinning machine

ABSTRACT

A hold down attachment for a skinning machine comprising a hold down roller means rotatably mounted above the feed roller and skinning blade of the skinning machine. The hold down roller means is comprised of a plurality of spaced apart resilient rollers mounted on a driven shaft and adapted to engage the slab being skinned. The configuration of the resilient rollers is such that the slab is simultaneously stretched in two lateral directions as the slab is being skinned which maintains the bottom of the slab in a straight or horizontal condition as it engages the skinning blade. A modified form of the hold down roller means is also disclosed and comprises a plurality of spaced apart rollers, each of which are comprised of four spring loaded shoes extending outwardly from a central hub portion. The spring loaded shoes engage the slab being skinned and simultaneously stretch the slab in two lateral directions as the slab is being skinned to maintain the bottom of the slab in a straight or horizontal condition to achieve the same results as the first described embodiment.

United States Patent [191 Beasley 11] 3,733,997 [451 May 22,1973

[54] HOLD DOWN ATTACHMENT FOR A 736,278 8/1903 Lombard et al. ..l46/130UX Primary Examiner-Willie G. Abercrombie Attorney-Zarley, McKee &Thomte [57] ABSTRACT A hold down attachment for a skinning machinecomprising a hold down roller means rotatably mounted above the feedroller and skinning blade of the skinning machine. The hold down rollermeans is comprised of a plurality of spaced apart resilient rollersmounted on a driven shaft and adapted to engage the slab being skinned.The configuration of the resilient rollers is such that the slab issimultaneously stretched in two lateral directions as the slab is beingskinned which maintains the bottom of the slab in a straight orhorizontal condition as it engages the skinning blade. A modified formof the hold down roller means is also disclosed and comprises aplurality of spaced apart rollers, each of which are comprised of fourspring loaded shoes extending outwardly from a central hub portion. Thespring loaded shoes engage the slab being skinned and simultaneouslystretch the slab in two lateral directions as the slab is being skinnedto maintain the bottom of the slab in a straight or horizontalcondition. to achieve the same results as the first describedembodiment.

6 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures HOLD DOWN ATTACHMENT FOR A SKINNING MACHINESkinning machines such as disclosed in U.S. Letters Pat. No. 2,722,255and Reissue No. 23,222 are used to remove the skin from a piece of meatsuch as a slab of bacon or the like. The slabis passed over ahorizontally disposed skinning blade which is supposed to remove providea hold down attachment for a skinning machine.

A further object of this invention is to provide a hold down attachmentfor a skinning machine which simultaneously stretches the slab in twolateral directions while the skin is being removed therefrom.

A further object of this invention is to provide a hold down attachmentfor a skinning machine which causes the bottom of the slab to bemaintained in a straight or horizontal condition as it is passed overthe skinning blade.

A further object of this invention is to provide a hold down attachmentfor a skinning machine which continually renews its grip on the meat andwhich spreads the slab on a continuous basis.

A further object of this invention is to provide a hold down attachmentfor a skinning machine comprising a constantly rotating roller means.

A further object of this invention is to provide a hold down attachmentfor a skinning machine which insures that all of the skin willbe removedfrom the piece of meat being passed therethrough.

A further object of this invention is to provide a hold down attachmentfor a skinning machine which is economical of manufacture, durable inuse and refined in appearance.

These and other objects. will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

This invention consists in the construction, arrangements, andcombination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objectscontemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth,specifically pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the skinning machine having theattachment of this invention mounted thereon;-

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view as seen along lines 2 2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the hold down attachment of thisinvention;

FIG. 4 is-a sectional view as seen along lines 4 4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of one of the resilien rollers of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view as seen from the other side of the rollerof FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the roller of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view as seen along lines 8 8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a front elevational view of a modified form of the attachment;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged sectional view as seen along lines 10 10 of FIG.9;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view as seen along lines 11 ll of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of a slab of bacon illustrating thehumps commonly found therein; and

FIG. 13 is a sectional view illustrating the slab of bacon passingthrough the skinning machine.

The numeral 10 generally designates a skinning machine such as disclosedin U.S. Pat. No. Reissue 23,222 which includes a feed roller 12, apressure shoe l4 having a skinning blade 16 attached thereto and a feedtable 18. Feed table 18 consists of a rotatable belt 20 suitably mountedon spaced rollers which moves the piece of meat 22 therealong. The pieceof meat 22 includes a skin 24 which is to be removed therefrom by theskinning blade 16. As seen in FIG. 12, the piece of meat 22 prior tobeing skinned includes several bumps 26 thereon which have previouslyinterfered with the skinning operation. The piece of meat 22 is notstraight due to the fact that it is derived from that portion of theanimal carcass which is not originally straight such as the belly.

As seen in FIG. 4, feed roller 12 is provided with a plurality of spacedapart annular grooves 28 formed therein. A plurality of cleaning blades30 are mounted on shaft 32 and are received by the grooves 28 to aid inkeeping the feed roller 12 clean. Feed roller 12 is also provided withcorrugations or serrations 34 to aid in the feed roller 12 gripping themeat. The opposite ends of feed roller 12 are suitably journalled asseen in FIG. 4 and roller 12 is driven by a suitable power sourcethrough chain 36.

The numerals 38 and 40 refer generally to arcuate brackets which arepivotally connected at their lower ends to the opposite sides of themachine 10 by any convenient means. Brackets 38 and 40 each have a holddown spring means 42 connected thereto intermediate the length thereofwhich yieldably urges the forward ends of brackets 38 and 40 downwardlytowards the machine 10. A shaft 44 extends between brackets 38 and 40and has its opposite ends rotatably received thereby as illustrated inFIG. 4. One end of shaft 44 has a sprocket 46 mounted thereon having achain 48 extending therearound. Chain 48 extends downwardly through thehollow interior of bracket 40 and would be suitably connected to aconvenient power source. A plurality of resilient rollers 50 are mountedon shaft 44 for rotation therewith and are arranged in groups 52 and 54.Inasmuch as all of the rollers 50 are identical, only one roller will bedescribed in detail with similar structure on the other rollers beingindicated by I Roller 50 includes a central hub portion 56 having ametal bushing 58 extending therethrough and having a keyway 60 formedtherein. Roller 50 includes a rib portion 62 which extends angularly.outwardly from hub portion 56 adjacent one end thereof as seen in FIG.8. The roller 50 is provided with a tapered or inclined peripheral rimportion 64 having a plurality of grooves 66 formed therein as seen inFIG. 5. The rollers 50 are maintained on the shaft 44 by suitable nuts68 or the like and a key is received in the keyway 60 and a suitablekeyway formed in the shaft 44 so that the rollers 50 will rotate withshaft 44. The rollers 50 are arranged in groups 52 and 54 as previouslystated. As seen in FIG. 4, the group 52 includes four of the rollers 50'so arranged on the shaft 44 so that rim portion 64 is disposed in amanner illustrated therein. Group 54 is mounted oppositely to that ofgroup 52 so that the peripheral rim portions 64 extend inwardly towardsthe center of the hold down roller while the peripheral rim portions ofthe group 52 extend inwardly towards the center of the hold down roller.For purposes of description, the plurality of rollers 50 will bedescribed as comprising the hold down roller 70.

The method of operation of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 8 is as follows.The rollers 70 and 12 would be caused to rotate by activating the powersources connected thereto as would be belt 20. The slab 22 is placed onthe belt 20 and the movement of the same would cause the forward endthereof to pass into engagement with the rotating rollers 50. Therotating feed roller 12 grips the under side or skin of the meat 22 andaids in pulling the meat through the machine so that the blade 16 canremove the skin 24 therefrom. The spring loaded hold down assembly 42urges the hold down roller 70 in engagement with the upper surface ofthe meat 22 which causes the rollers 50 to be compressed and deflectedin the manner illustrated in FIG. 4 when the same encounter theirregular surface of the meat. The relationship of the inclined ortapered peripheral rim portions on the rollers of the groups 52 and 54is such that the rollers in group 54 are deflected towards the leftwhile the rollers of the group 52 are deflected to the right as viewedin FIG. 4. The rollers 50 flatten the meat 22 as it is being fed to thecutting blade 16 and laterally compresses or stretches the slabsimultaneously in two directions to insure that the skin 24 will be in astraight or horizontal condition as it engages the cutting blade 16 sothat all of the skin will be removed from the meat 22. The rollers 50flatten the high places on the surface of the meat and avoid bunching,bulging, etc., problems which are ordinarily encountered in conventionalskinning machines. The driven resilient rollers 50 are constantlyrotating and continually renewing their grip on the meat as the meat isbeing passed through the machine. The rotating rollers 50 continuallyand simultaneously stretch the slab in two lateral directions in amanner which is not interrupted 'at any time during the skinningoperation. Thus it can be seen that the hold down roller 70 insures thatthe meat will be properly skinned in an efiicient and economical manner.

A modified form of the hold down roller is seen in FIGS. 9 l1 and isgenerally referred to by the reference numeral 72. The numerals 74 and76 refer generally to shafts which would be suitably rotatably mountedin the brackets 38 and 40 and would be driven by a suitable power means.End plates 78 and 80 are secured to shafts 74 and 76 respectively bywelding or the like and have square rods 82, 84, 86 and 88 securedthereto and extending therebetween as seen in FIGS. 9 11. A plurality ofspring loaded shoe assemblies 90 are secured to the square rods and arearranged in groups 92 and 94 as seen in FIG. 9. Inasmuch as each of theshoe assemblies 90 are identical, except for the opposite arrangement ofthe groups 92 and 94, only one of the shoe assemblies will be describedin detail.

As seen in FIG. 10, a bracket 96 is pivotally connected to rods 82 and84 by a pin means 98 and includes a base portion 100 having a pair oflegs 102 and 104 secured thereto and extending outwardly therefrom. Apivotal shoe 106 is pivoted to the outer ends of arms 102 and 104 and isprovided with a plurality of corrugations or serrations 108 therein. Asseen in FIGS. 10 and 11, a coil spring means 110 has its opposite endsreceived by the tabs 112 on the underside of the shoes 106 and extendbetween oppositely disposed shoes as illustrated therein. As seen inFIG. 11, the shoes 106 are normally substantially parallel to the squarerods but are pivotal to the position illustrated by broken lines in FIG.11 and to the position illustrated at the right side of FIG. 11. It canbe seen in FIG. 9 that the arms 102 and 104 of the shoe assemblies 90 ofthe group 92 extend away from the center of the hold down roller 72while the arms 102 and 104 of the shoe assemblies 90 of group 94 extendoutwardly from the center of hold down roller 72 in a direction oppositethat of the other group.

The hold down roller 72 functions somewhat similarly to the hold downroller in that the slab is simultaneou'sly stretched and compressed intwo lateral directions while the same is being skinned. The shoes 106are responsive to upwardly extending irregularities in the slab and willpivot from the position illustrated in the center of FIG. 11 to theposition illustrated at the right side of FIG. 11 upon encountering suchan upwardly extending irregularity. The bracket 96 pivots as does theshoe 106 so that the meat is compressed and laterally stretchedoutwardly from the center thereof. The opposite relationship of theshoes of the groups 92 and 94 insures that the meat will besimultaneously stretched in two lateral directions so that the skin ofthe meat will be in a straight or horizontal condition as it engages thecutting blade to insure that the skin will be entirely removed in anefficient and economical manner. The fact that the shoe assemblies arecontinually rotating causes the roller 72 to renew its grip and spreador stretch the slab on a continual basis in an uninterrupted manner.

Thus it can be seen that both of the attachments accomplish at least allof the stated objectives.

I claim: 1. A method for skinning a piece of meat havinga bottom surfacewith a skin thereon and an irregular top surface, said methodcomprising:

passing said piece of meat horizontally through a skinning machinehaving a skinning blade means,

simultaneously yieldably exerting both compressive and lateral forces onat least two spaced apart locations on a first portion of said meatwhile simultaneously yieldably exerting both compressive and oppositelateral forces on at least two spaced apart locations on a secondportion of said meat to force said meat into a substantially flattenedcondition so that said bottom surface will be substantially paral lel tothe skinning machine skinning blade.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said compressive and lateral forces areexerted on said piece of meat by spaced apart resilient means adapted toengage said piece of meat.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said compressive and lateral forces andsaid compressive and opposite lateral forces are exerted on said meat onsubstantially opposite sides of the centerlongitudinal axis thereofwhich extends in the direction of travel of said meat through saidskinning machine.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said forces are exerted on said meat bya plurality of spaced apart resilient wheel elements having oppositelydisposed angularly inclined peripheral surfaces, said wheel elementsbeing mounted on a hold down roller means positioned above the skinningblade.

l t l 1! I!

1. A method for skinning a piece of meat having a bottom surface with askin thereon and an irregular top surface, said method comprising:passing said piece of meat horizontally through a skinning machinehaving a skinning blade means, simultaneously yieldably exerting bothcompressive and lateral forces on at least two spaced apart locations ona first portion of said meat while simultaneously yieldably exertingboth compressive and opposite lateral forces on at least two spacedapart locations on a second portion of said meat to force said meat intoa substantially flattened condition so that said bottom surface will besubstantially parallel to the skinning machine skinning blade.
 2. Themethod of claim 1 wherein said compressive and lateral forces areexerted on said piece of meat by spaced apart resilient means adapted toengage said piece of meat.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein saidcompressive and lateral forces and said compressive and opposite lateralforces are exerted on said meat on substantially opposite sides of thecenter longitudinal axis thereof which extends in the direction oftravel of said meat through said skinning machine.
 4. The method ofclaim 1 wherein said forces are exerted on said meat by a plurality ofspaced apart rotatable wheel elements on a hold down roller meanspositioned above the skinning blade.
 5. The method of claim 1 whereinsaid forces are exerted on said meat by a plurality of spaced apartrotatable resilient wheel elements on a hold down roller meanspositioned above the skinning blade.
 6. The method of claim 1 whereinsaid forces are exerted on said meat by a plurality of spaced apartresilient wheel elements having oppositely disposed angularly inclinedperipheral surfaces, said wheel elements being mounted on a hold downroller means positioned above the skinning blade.